“Consciously or not, what we travelers are seeking nearly every time we board a plane is the feeling of foreignness. We travel for the thrilling (and sometimes uncomfortable) disorientation of losing ourselves in a new culture where things look, taste, and sound different, and to understand ourselves freed from all of our familiar constructs.”
— Pilar Guzman, Jan-Feb ’18 Traveler Magazine

This might be another reason we travel:

And so is this – somehow, I’ve hung on to this card from a little restaurant a gentle walk from the Acropolis: To Kati Anno. Sideways or not, it could be fun to revisit it, looking at things from a different angle.

And as of this morning there is this — like Jans and me,grandson Augustine and I now trade war stories (and a scooter!).

Tempting though an escape from the Trump years may be, time to get back and get to work — amazing to see friends and family marching the day after the election– and to be with family and friends. Videos and FaceTime are not all no substitute!

Vaikunta Ekadasi , the greatest festival of the Ranganatharswamy Temple year, is about to begin in this Hindu temple, so today, police and people were swarming, traffic was redirected, and the hawkers were having a great time. Devotees – men, women, ancient and fairly young – were brilliant , the whole place just glorious chaos.

The temple is enclosed by 7 concentric walls, and according to Lonely Planet it has 21 gopurams (those pink and blue towers), 39 pavillions, 50 shrines, including the Hall of 1000 Pillars (though I read somewhere that the number is actually 994). As a non-Hindu, I could get up to the 2nd outer courtyard, but as always, not inside the gold-topped sanctum sanctorum.

See these chappals (photo, below)? I set mine there (black Crocs, left of the pink ones), paid the ancient woman the 10 rupees she required, then walked barefoot across the road to enter the temple. There, I saw a stall offering chappals storage. FREE. I know it was just 14 cents, & I know it was perfect weather – high 80’s(Minnesota people notice this sort of thing) – but it probably took a good 5 minutes for me to let go of the injustice. It was probably a good 5 minutes before I saw the malnourished, hunched-over woman, probably my age, leaning against the temple wall and holding out sticks of sandalwood incense for people like me to buy. REALLY, Mary Ellen?

Man Mo is a temple dedicated to the God of Literature (Man) and the God of War (Mo). For Jeanne, Elizabeth, and me, the visit was one of fragrant if chaotic moments filled with devotees’ incense and offerings of joss paper and oranges.

Later, with Allan and Cecilia, we heard Christmas Carols and and attended Mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel – amazing to follow it all w/o understanding a single word, until it was time for Communion, and the choir did a completely recognizable “O, Holy Night.”

(single-click any circle –> slide show)

Soul Art Shop

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan

After Mass, we walked to and through and around and up streets and escalators for a “Shanghaiese” meal, which may have been the best yet; Allan ordered perfectly: 3 styles of noodles and Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings). It was an incredible variety of hot (spicy), sour, and sweet,and as Elizabeth later pointed out, he kindly avoided ordering things like Century Eggs

Later, we spent a couple hours on the rooftop of the Prince’s Building – this link has a few photos (my camera-phone battery being long gone). And this one of Victoria Harbor captures some of what we saw.